Catering for Guests with Allergies and Dietary Requirements
At York Cocoa Works looking after our chocolate loving guests is one of our most important priorities. We believe the chocolate industry should be open and transparent so our guests can make informed choices. We therefore want to ensure that we are able to cater for all of our visitors, whatever their needs.
We are increasingly joined by visitors with a wide range of dietary requirements to enjoy their experience with us. In order for us to be able to cater for yours or the needs of your group we do ask that you share with our team any specific requirements that will enable us to fully cater for you on your visit.
You will be asked when making a booking to confirm any specific dietary requirements amongst your party. Once a booking has been made you will be able to access "Your Booking Portal" which will allow you to update any details for your party at any time.
Please be aware that we do ask for at least 48 hours notice so we can ensure that we can cater for your booking requirements.
We've put together some information so you know how we operate, and how we adapt our processes to cater for the needs of our visitors. If you have any specific requirements please do not hesitate to get in touch, and our team will explore how we can adopt any necessary protocols to make our chocolate and our experiences accessible.
The following does not cover every possible allergen so please do get in touch if. you have any concerns or requirements not addressed here.
Please note that we reserve the right to adjust bookings or the service and experience offered so we can cater most effectively for your needs. Without sufficient notice it may not be possible for us to be able to cater for your needs. We appreciate your assistance so we can make the necessary preparations.
Vegetarian
None of the chocolate we make at York Cocoa Works contains animal products, we only use a non-gelatine containing marshmallows in our chocolate cafe for our cakes, hot chocolate and in our workshops.
We do sometimes source interesting ingredients, but these will always have available ingredients for you to access when you are with us and will be clearly labelled. Please do ask our team if you have any questions we can assist you with.
Vegan
We make all of our own chocolate at York Cocoa Works which you can see being made. We keep all of our chocolate making equipment for either milk based products or dark based products, so you can enjoy our dark chocolate range of items that have been made without milk in separate machinery. For our range of Vegan friendly products please explore more HERE.
Our 65% Dark Chocolate is available to use in all chocolate making workshops and activities together with a wide range of inclusions, flavours and decorations making all of our workshops accessible to all participants. Please note we use an Oat based cream for our Truffle Making workshops for vegan participants - please do get in touch if this poses an issue for your participation and we will find an alternative.
Our vegan friendly products are clearly marked so you can make informed choices.
All of our dark hot chocolates are available with a choice of almond, oat or soya milk at no extra charge, please ask if there is a flavour you would like and your preference of milk.
We only use non-gelatine containing marshmallows in our chocolate cafe for our cakes, hot chocolate and in our workshops. We offer a range of cake items that are made by our team using our dark chocolate and vegan friendly ingredients, please do let us know you are joining us by making a reservation so we can ensure your needs can be fully catered for.
We have a range of Vegan gift sets available for pre-ordering, including our dark chocolate cocoa pods which can be made available for orders, however our team will always be happy to make suggestions and help curate products and gifts for you. Please note that at this time we do not have a suitable vegan friendly chocolate truffle, but we do hope to change this in the future.
Milk
As a small manufactory we make all of our own chocolate in a process that you can fully see as you join us at York Cocoa Works. We keep all of our equipment separate to avoid cross contamination. As much as we take all possible precautions to keep our making process separate these processes operate within the same space and we use a fine milk powder in our white and milk chocolate making so we are unable to guarantee that our chocolate is free from all milk traces.
All uses of milk in our products is clearly highlighted in the ingredients list of all of our products, which you will find on the packaging and in the ingredients list online for each product. You may find the list of Vegan friendly products a helpful guide to possibly suitable items.
Our dark chocolate is available to use in all chocolate making workshops and activities together with a wide range of inclusions, flavours and decorations making all of our workshops accessible to all participants. Please note we use an Oat based cream for our Truffle Making workshops as a milk alternative - please do get in touch if this poses an issue for your participation and we will find a suitable substitution.
In our cafe all of our dark hot chocolates are available with a choice of almond, oat or soya milk at no extra charge, please ask if there is a flavour you would like and your preference of milk.
We offer a range of cake items that are made by our team using our dark chocolate and non-milk containing ingredients, please do let us know you are joining us by making a reservation so we can ensure your needs can be fully catered for.
We have a range of dark chocolate gift sets available for pre-ordering, including our dark chocolate cocoa pods which can be made available for orders, however our team will always be happy to make suggestions and help curate products and gifts for you. Please note that as we use fresh cream in our chocolate truffles at this time we do not have a suitable non-milk chocolate truffle, but we do hope to change this in the future.
We advise guests with severe milk allergies contact our team directly to discuss their requirements so we can ensure you are welcomed for a great chocolate experience.
Eggs
You can see all of our chocolate being made at York Cocoa Works and see that quite clearly we do not use eggs to make our chocolate so you can enjoy our pre-packaged chocolate products that are made without the use of eggs. Full ingredients used to make our chocolate products can be seen on each packaged item and listed online.
We do sometimes use some interesting ingredients like lemon curd in our chocolate truffles so please take a look at the range of seasonal truffles being shared to ensure the ingredients meet your needs. We offer our Elect range of truffles all year round for gifting options that are suitable.
We make all of our cakes ourselves and do use eggs in some of our recipes, particularly the Brownies. Please ask our team when you join us for our available items that will be suitable.
We only use vegan friendly marshmallows that are made without the use of eggs in our chocolate cafe for our cakes, hot chocolate and in our workshops.
We do not use eggs in any of our chocolate workshops, but from time to time there may be decorations and inclusions that are available that do contain egg (though we try to avoid using these), but they will be clearly marked with plenty of alternative options available. Please do ask your workshop instructor for more guidance.
Nuts and Peanuts
We make all of our chocolate ourselves at York Cocoa Works so you can see our processes, what we use and how we do it. We do not use nuts in any of our chocolate making processes in order to ensure that our products and experiences remain as accessible as possible, however we do not operate as a nut free site and do not have our chocolate tested to be able to confirm that it is free from nuts.
Please be aware that we do offer almond milk as an alternative in our chocolate cafe and keep this separate in the operating process, please do specify when ordering with us if you have any concerns and our team will look after you.
We do not use nuts in any of our chocolate workshops, but from time to time we do use nuts in our public workshop spaces for learning and recipe development, in this instance the nuts are used in a controlled manner and kept separate from all other ingredients.
If you or the participants in your group have any specific requirements please do get in contact with our team so we can ensure your needs are catered for accordingly.
Gluten
Our chocolate making process does not use gluten containing ingredients to craft our white, milk or dark chocolate or any of our hot chocolate, bars or our core chocolate truffle products. Full ingredients used to make our chocolate products can be seen on each packaged item and listed online.
We do sometimes use some interesting ingredients like York Chocolate Stout in our chocolate truffles so please take a look at the range of seasonal truffles being shared to ensure the ingredients meet your needs. We offer our Elect range of truffles all year round for gifting options that are suitable.
From time to time we do innovate with milk alternative chocolates using a gluten-free oat based milk within our production environment.
We make all of our cakes ourselves and do use gluten containing ingredients in some of our recipes, particularly the Brownies and cookies. We use a gluten-free Oat based biscuit in recipes like our Rocky Road and Salted Caramel Chocolate Truffle Cake to provide an accessible option. Please ask our team when you join us for our available items that will be suitable.
We do not use gluten containing ingredients in any of our chocolate workshops, but from time to time there may be decorations and inclusions that are available that do contain gluten (such as Rice Krispies), but they will be clearly marked with plenty of alternative options available. Please do ask your workshop instructor for more guidance.
Soy
Our chocolate is made without using Soy Lecithin, a common emulsifier used in the making of chocolate. We use rapeseed lecithin in our milk based chocolates where necessary, full ingredients used to make our chocolate products can be seen on each packaged item and listed online.
We do offer cake items in our cafe that are made using non-dairy alternatives and gluten-free ingredients which do sometimes use soy based ingredients, full ingredients lists are available. Please ask our team when you join us for our available items that will be suitable.
Our chocolate workshops are offered using all of our own chocolate, made without soy, but from time to time there may be decorations and inclusions that are available that do contain soy, but they will be clearly marked with plenty of alternative options available. Please do ask your workshop instructor for more guidance.
Mustard
We do not use mustard within our manufactory or chocolate making process. Please be aware that from time to time some of the ingredients used in our chocolate like spices and decorations used in our cafe items, truffle ingredients and workshops are shared with allergen cautions of the possible contamination. Full ingredients used to make our chocolate products can be seen on each packaged item and listed online.
Please do share any concerns when booking and ask your workshop instructor for more guidance.
Sulphur Dioxide
We do not use sulphur dioxide within our manufactory or chocolate making process. Please be aware that from time to time some of the ingredients used in our chocolate truffles like wine or spices and decorations used in our cafe items, truffle ingredients and workshops are shared with allergen cautions of the possible contamination. Full ingredients used to make our chocolate products can be seen on each packaged item and listed online.
Please do share any concerns when booking and ask your workshop instructor for more guidance.
Sesame, Celery, Lupin, Crustaceans, Fish & Molluscs
We do not use these major allergens in our chocolate making process and avoid their use within the premises.
We advise you to share any requirements when booking and raise any concerns with our team or your workshop instructor for more guidance.
Alcohol
Alcohol is available as a pre-ordered accompaniment to workshops and chocolate experiences for over 18's only.
We do sometimes use some interesting ingredients like York Chocolate Stout or liqueurs in our chocolate truffles so please take a look at the range of seasonal truffles being shared to ensure the ingredients meet your needs. We offer our Elect range of truffles all year round for gifting options that are suitable. Full ingredients used to make our chocolate products can be seen on each packaged item and listed online.
We have a range of our "Manufactory" gift sets available in-store for pre-ordering, including our Elect Chocolate Truffles which can be made available for orders, however our team will always be happy to make suggestions and help curate products and gifts that will be suitable.
Our Chocolate Workshops offer a range of flavours and ingredients for participants to be able to customise their own chocolates, in this instance flavours are primarily oil based and not derived from alcohol. Please do ask your workshop instructor for more guidance.
Sugar
We make most of our chocolates using a British grown caster sugar. Full ingredients and nutritional information for our chocolate can be seen on each packaged item and listed online.
While sugar is a critical ingredient in the chocolate making process we aim to help visitors and participants who are needing to control their sugar consumption as effectively as possible. We do not offer chocolate made with sugar alternatives, "low sugar" or "sugar-free" ingredients, however we do have chocolate made with high cocoa solids with lower volumes of sugar used. We are able to provide hot chocolates made with our 100% Cocoa recipe and are able to share flavourful suggestions for gifts to meet your requirements.
Our Chocolate Workshops and our core chocolate items and cakes are primarily made with our 65% dark chocolate which contains 35g of sugar per 100g, please do contact our team in advance if you need to work with a chocolate made with a higher volume of cocoa and reduced level of sugar.
Your enjoyment and participation in our experiences is critical to us, we appreciate your assistance to help us share the best chocolate experience for you when you visit. If you have any allergy or requirements not detailed here or would like to discuss your personal situation further please do not hesitate to get in touch with our team on events@yorkcocoahouse.co.uk